Moving to Melbourne from Perth WA with their Husband Russell, Esther (aka Kristian) first appeared on the Melbourne drag scene in early 2014 entering a drag competition at one of the leading gay clubs at the time, Esther was born from Kristian practicing their make-up skills for drag during that year, before going to study to become a qualified make-up artist and wig stylist in 2015. Esther ended up returning in 2016 to the same Drag competition and made it to the Semi Finals! (not without controversy, but that's another story), where she competed with many queens who have since become some of Melbourne's finest entertainers. From there Esther has gone on to perform on many stages throughout Melbourne for the past 11 years, cementing themselves as a highly glamorous and camp, what she like’s to call “Glamp!” live singing (sometimes) drag queen.
Having been classically trained in voice at WAAPA in their youth, Esther was one of the first singing queens in Melbourne, as most queens lip-sync when they perform, singing gives her a point of difference from her peers. Esther style and beauty is old Hollywood glamour, a starlet that loves to shine in the spotlight!
After coming 1st runner up in 2017 Esther Won The Miss Gay Australia International Pageant 2018 confirming Esthers status as a professional and talented Beauty Queen of many talents who when she puts her mind to something she gets it done and does it RIGHT!
During their reign Esther used the Miss Gay platform and title to tour Australia and Internationally, raising awareness for the pageant within the community and going on to Produce the 2019 award winning 10th anniversary event making it the biggest and best Pageant yet! Esther's mission was to bridge the segregation within the LGBTQIA+ that we are all one family and we should be supporting each other no matter who or what we are.
In 2019 out of drag Esther appeared on the ARIA Award Winning TV show ABC's The Recording Studio where they take everyday Australian's and give them the opportunity to professionally record a song. Kristian recorded a cover of Shania Twain's - "From This Moment On" as a love letter to their husband Russell, for them to play at their wedding to walk down the aisle, their wedding was one of the first same sex weddings in Australia to be televised on national TV!
Since her drag debut, Esther has made quite a name for herself on social media and in the drag world by creating fierce looks and starting her successful wig styling business Styled by Esther, which has become well known within the local community, Australia wide and Internationally!
Esther has styled wigs for many celebrities including quite a few Rupaul's Drag Race Alumni, like serial contestant Jujubee, UK vs The World Winner Blu Hydrangea, Plus Eureka O’hara, Pandora Box, Latrice Royale just to name a few, And ALL four of Drag Race Down Under's Winner’s Kita Mean, Spankie Jackson, Isis Avis Loren and Lazy Susan, an accolade she is very proud of being that every winner has had at least one Styled by Esther creation in their package.
One of Esther's most exciting opportunity's was to work with singer-songwriter Tones & I, by styling two wigs for her music video "Won't Sleep" also working on set as Tones' personal wig stylist while shooting the video.
Growing ever popular on TikTok during the Covid lockdowns sharing her creativity and art, amassing a large following of over 380,000 followers, Esther was a featured drag queen on the TikTok float for the 2022 Sydney Mardi Gra Parade where she was a back up dancer for singer Wafia as she sung her hit song "I'm Good" . Esther was also listed as one of the 10 Best Drag Queens to follow on Tiktok and was the only Australian Queen on the list, with the likes of Trixie Mattel and Sugar & Spice who she had the pleasure of working with on the TikTok float for the 2023 Sydney Mardi Gra Parade and World Pride festival.
In 2023 Esther had the privilege of joining the cast of “Showbiz” at Narrm’s iconic queer venue DT’s Hotel, A drag trio production show alongside Rubi Taboo, Tequila Mockingbird, Anita Service. With the departure of Tequila Mocking bird in early 2024, Esther took over the running and organisation of the weekly shows at DT’s, adding additional cast members Xena Ghost and Jacqui Meoff, and with the assistance of her partner Russell, created new costumes, wigs and accessories for the shows.
Prior to this Esther was not performing too often while focusing on her business and online endeavours but had always dreamt of being a part of a production show. After exclusively singing live for the most part of her career, Esther dove into the deep end and was able to hone her craft of lipsyncing as well as her “dance” (moving around on a stage) abilities being apart of a group show. With a love of movie’s and musicals she has amassed a solid repertoire of camp classics!
If you want to see more of Esther's day to day life and performces you can follow her on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. xoxo
To book singing sensation Esther Rix for your next event or function please email at styledbyesther@gmail.com or contact:
